Rescuing Oblivion from the Depths of Dust

Last night while I was relaxing on the armchair, cup of peppermint tea in hand and turning a page of Live and Let Die, I had an epiphany. It was the overall grim, dark, and uncomfortable setting of the novel that reminded me of the planes of Oblivion in the fourth [canon] instalment of the Elder Scrolls series. Upon realizing this, I made haste to my computer and looked up my games history via my Xbox Live profile and while the exact number escapes me, I hadn't touched the game in a worrying amount of time. I found the fact to be utterly offensive and downright unacceptable. I returned to the living room, downed the rest of the tea, bookmarked my page and stormed upstairs with determinative desires to relive a game that changed my life.

It was several years ago, when I was in elementary school, that I learned of the Elder Scrolls series. I remember distinctively during recess, my friend (a fellow gamer) asked me if I had played the game 'Morrowind.' I admitted that I hadn't even heard of it, and to my pleasure, he started informing me of its brilliance. I was told tales of open world exploration, character customisation (something I thought only existed in The Sims), and some sort of dark magic that gripped you and kept you wanting more and more. Naturally, I was a little frightened about the dark magic part, but that was just his way of saying the game was addictive. Now that I reflect on that, he had quite the way of describing things for a young child.

Admittedly, I never touched the game, even after his compelling and mildly disturbing story about it. To be quite honest, I hadn't touched the game until about...a decade later, when I decided to pick up the PC version for only around $10 and found myself utterly immersed. True, I had already played Oblivion and Skyrim beforehand, but with an open mindset, I was able to put myself back when the game was first released, which allowed me to appreciate it for what it was, even with the two succeeding and much improved instalments.

But anyway, getting back on topic, I found myself immersed in the world of the Elder Scrolls once more, and I couldn't believe the overwhelming feeling of nostalgia I was receiving. I will admit though, the main reason why I was enjoying Oblivion so much was, well...after selling my copy of Skyrim to buy a pack of cigarettes...enough said. I know, I know. But please, hold off on the pitchforks and the desire to send me to the stocks. I've suffered enough with seller's remorse and all those late nights binging on ice cream and crawling up in a ball on my bed, wishing I had it back. I'm just kidding. I only did those things mentally, I promise. But I do want it back and I'll probably pitch a fit at the store and demand it for a reasonable price.

I decided not to load up my previous save, since I was well into the game long after completing the main storyline, the Dark Brotherhood society, and the Thieves' Guild missions. Instead, I said farewell to my hideous female Nord character and created a male Imperial, with darkened eyes and a sinister look upon him. If the RPG elements were like that of Mass Effect, this dude would be one badass renegade. But alas, I've digressed. It wasn't long after I finished creating my character that I realized that Emperor Uriel Septim had a rather familiar voice, and then it hit me: Patrick Stewart.

I found myself utterly involved in the game as if it were my first time playing it--while I was slightly annoyed at some major improvements that Skyrim had that Oblivion obviously lacked, I reminded myself that Oblivion had indeed come before and I need to treat it with the proper respect and appreciate it for what it is. That lasted all about five minutes until I saw an Oblivion Gate and remembered how annoying and tedious closing them were. I had half a mind to shove the game back onto the shelf, but ignoring the gates and getting back into the Dark Brotherhood was the saving grace.

I'll admit, it's been tough working through Oblivion when I have The Witcher 2 and Max Payne 3 pulling at my leg for attention, but after deciding to give all three a fair amount of play, it felt nice going back to Oblivion after a round or two of Max Payne's online multiplayer and remembering the first RPG that literally made me go, "Wow."

Morrowind was good if you realize that your going to suck at at the beginning and not be able to hit anything at all with your weapons at first. Just keep swinging at the bad guys and eventually you'll see all your hard work pay off when all the sudden your connecting left and right. The most impressive world and game for its time. How could you give up on a true gem after only five minutes was it because you didn't know where to go, or was it cause your character being complete garbage to start out. Give it about an hour and you'll be whacking away to glorious victory!

Well like I said in the blog, I was able to appreciate Morrowind for what it is, given how long ago it was released and the vast improvements made to the Elder Scrolls games since, but what I failed to mention was that even during my play of Morrowind, there's just something about it that makes me unable to really sit through it for more than an hour, and even then I barely make any progress. Rather embarrassing on my part, LOL!

I hate Oblivion. I try and give it a go, but I can never manage to pull off a character that is great at Stealth / Swords. I just can't manage to kill things. I think Skyrim is far better than Oblivion and more user friendly when choosing which type of character you want to build.